Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps the Government is taking to ensure people who work remotely are not being required to accept a loss in (a) pay, (b) job stability, and (c) opportunities for promotion.

ACAS has produced comprehensive guidance on the key employment issues for when people are working at home during the pandemic. This covers practical issues such as pay and insurance, as well as offering training on managing people who work remotely – the link to the relevant section of the ACAS site can be found here https://www.acas.org.uk/working-from-home.

There is also a legal framework in place that grants all employees with 26 weeks’ continuous service with their employer the statutory Right to Request Flexible Working, where employees can request a change to their hours, working patterns or to work from home. There is supporting guidance currently available online which explains both eligibility and the process for making a request to work flexibly on GOV.UK – this can be found here https://www.gov.uk/flexible-working.

Employers should not dismiss or treat staff unfairly because they have made a flexible working request or intend to make a flexible working request, which can include working remotely. To treat staff unfairly means to cause them detriment such that they are worse off than they were previously. Examples of unfair treatment include employers reducing the hours of staff, overlooking individuals for promotions or development opportunities, and saying no to training requests without good reason.

If an employee feels they have experienced detriment because of a flexible working request, they may qualify to make a claim to an employment tribunal.